Three arrested in two-year-old Slidell arson

Almost two years after fire tore through the Stone Creek apartment complex in Slidell, police have booked three arsonists allegedly responsible for the blaze.

Andrew Wetzel

The suspects include Andrew Wetzel, a Slidell man who police described as a "one-man crime wave" after he left a trail of break-ins and fires from Olde Towne to the Home Depot on Gause Boulevard.

Fire engulfed the two story Stone Creek complex on Joseph Street in the early morning hours of May 13, 2007. The fire at the 24-unit complex, which was nearing completion at the time, was so intense that it melted the siding on nearby buildings, according to Slidell Police.

The fire completely destroyed the complex, causing about $1 million in damage, but no one was injured by the blaze. The apartments were rebuilt following the fire.

Soon after the fire, investigators determined it had been set deliberately and discovered that arsonists had also attempted to set a nearby building ablaze, Slidell Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said in a news release Friday. However, they officially determined the trail to the arsonists was cold in June 2007, Foltz said.

Police gained new information on the case in April and arrested Brandon L. Segraves, 21, and an 18-year-old Slidell man on Thursday, Foltz said. He did not provide details about this new information, but the arrests came nine days after police arrested Wetzel, 20.

Wetzel is accused of breaking into an Olde Towne law office on late on April 19 and loading its computers into a stolen school bus before setting the building ablaze. He then allegedly drove the school bus to the Home Depot parking lot and attempted to set the computers and bus on fire.

Wetzel was booked on more than 27 felony charges related to those crimes as well as burglaries from vehicles belonging to St. Tammany Parish's 1st Fire Protection District, an unauthorized entry into the National Guard's Camp Villere and incidents involving identity theft and bank fraud.

At the time of his arrest, Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan described Wetzel as a "one-man crime wave" and said investigators were working to determine whether he was connected to any other arsons in the city.

Wetzel, of 1407 Admiral Nelson Drive; Segraves, of 153 Venus Road; and the 18-year-old were each booked with aggravated arson. Foltz did not release the name of the teenager because he was a juvenile at the time of the arson.

Investigators are still working on the case and police will release more information at a news conference on Monday, Assistant Chief Jesse Simon said.